Skipper had gotten back from school. As she entered the house, she didn't said a word to anyone, she seemed upset. She went to cool off to her room with some music. After an hour or so, she was wandering around the place. She went to the studio scrabbeling something on a paper.

"What are you doing?" asked Chelsea entering the room.

Skipper hid the paper "Nothing" she replied a bit annoyed

"Is that Barbies autograph?" she walked over to the table.

"Yeah" she answered taking her note hidding it behind her back "I'll go do my homework now, why don't you go play or something?"

"Fine, but not because you told me to" huffed the little girl walking away. Skipper resisted the urge of rolling her eyes. Instead, she gazed at the task in hand. She needed her big sister's signature and asap.

She walked towards her, doubting her plan. Nervously she cleared her throat "Hey Barbie"

"Oh, hey Skipper, what's up?"

"Not much...um...a friend of mine asked me to get your autograph, you mind?" she stretched her hand with the sheet of paper

"Sure, what's her name?"

"Um, Alegra, but just your signature will do" she smiled akwardly.

"Okay, here you go"

"Thanks" she grabbed it eagerly leaving the room. A part of her felt aweful about lying, but she knew there was not any other way. She looked at the signature and then unpasted the piece of paper that was covering the rest. Right next to it was lying the words 'Parent's or legal guardians' signature'. It was really the only way she could have got away with it. Now it came the next phase of her plan.

She went to school the next day as if nothing had happened. She delivered the paper to her principal and left the facility. Now she just had to avoid her sister's gaze, her school and her classmates.

She went home, still feeling guilty about the whole scheme, but what else could she do? There was no way on earth that she could tell her big sister the mess she had got herself into. At least not without hurting someone's feelings. She sneaked into the house and went upstairs to her room. Without much she could do, she began texting her best friend who was still on classes.

"Hey Skipp, everything alright?"

"Yeah, I can't believe I am suspended, but well, at leat my sis doesn't know ;)"

"You think you can get away with it?"

She couldn't find an answer to that, she thought it for a minute "I hope so"

"Well, good luck, the chemestry teacher is going to take my phone if I don't put it away, talk to you later, Skipp"

"Later, Alegra "

As the day went by there was only one more issue at hand. She had to give a proper apology to someone who didn't deserved it. She could bare the lecture, the suspension or even getting expelled if needed, but she did not wanted to apologize. If she was given the chance to enmend what she did before, she would do it exactly the same way, no matter the repercussion. And please, it wasn't a big deal. It was just a verbally dispute, nothing new at high school. Even boys beat up each other and by the end of the day they were friends again and no one ever reported them, so what was the big deal with her?

Skipper sighted looking at the calendar in her wall, the soul month ached in her heart. Tears were starting to build up in her eyes, but she prevented them.

"No. I won't back down, it's all your fault" she threw a pillow across the room crashing on the portraits.

"Girls, I'm home!" she heard Barbie call from downstair. She better put her act together if she wanted to get away with it. She went to the livinng room where everyone was and just hang around them as usual. Her eyes fixed at her phone as she talked again with Alegra.

"Well, its getting late, you better go to bed, tomorrow you all have school" said Barbie as the younger siblings complained

"Actually...I don't" said Skipper nervously.

"Really? Why not?" asked Barbie.

Skipper avoided her gaze by pretending to text "Teacher conferences" she said casually.

"Odd, I thought they only did that at the end of the month"

"They decided to move the date, no biggie" she said shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright then, maybe tomorrow you can come with me to the Boutique"

"Sure, sound fun"

"What?! Skipper doesn't have to go to school but we do?!"

"I'm sorry girls, but I am sure you will have a day off too at the end of the month" said Barbie reassuringly.

"We better have" mumbled Chelsea with arms crossed.

"Well, off to bed you two" she scolded playfully "Don't stay up too late, Skipper"

"Won't do" she waved them good bye and felt sick to her gut. Lie number three, not a day off, but suspension.

The next morning she waked up by nine, she texted her friend and watched about a dozen videos before going down for breakfast. The house was empty, Barbie left a note about an emergency in one of her hundred professions, so it was just her. She hated how lonely the whole place felt. It was a mansion for just the four of them. No matte how many rooms they where, they always seemed to be together in the same place. Now it was kind of sad. It was just her...she felt lonely. Any other day she would have loved the space for herself, she could put the music at max volume and play her guittar or whatever, but right now she didn't felt like it.

The day went by as she watched a flick, played a videogame, chatted with some friends and posted on her blog, but still she couldn't shake away the feeling of loneliness.

When her sisters came back she couldn't hide the relief of being around them, even Ken had came along with some new invention. Actaully it didn't matter what they were talking about, she was just glad to have them around.

Stacie started to play some sport challenging everyone at the house. Chelsea too played with her tea set and they all ate together. Skipper was finally feeling easy again, she was actually enjoying the whole scene, all of them there, like the little perfect family.

The phone rang as they played a bord game "Woop, let me get that" said Barbie as she stood up going to the other room. "Hello? Yeah this is the Robert's residence"

"Your turn Ken" said Chelsea

"Here it goes" he said throwing "Yes, doble six" he moved his figure the spaces as the game carried on.

Barbie walked back to the room, the phone still on her hand and a cross look on her face.

"Skipper Roberts" she said in surprisingly stern voice, making all the laughter die down "I just hanged the phone, it was your principal telling me you haven't given a proper apology to one of your classmates. And aparently, I was suposed to be aware of this since I signed your suspension sheet, but the only signature I gave you was for your friend Alegra, isn't that right?"

The girl got paler than a ghost, her stomach became a knot and was unable to speak. A frightener look upon her face.

"Come on girls, let's go to the other room for a sec" said Ken scholting the younger siblings out of there.

Once they were alone, Skipper stood up, still unable to meet her eyes.

"So?" Barbie asked with firm voice "Is there nothing you have to say about the matter?"

"There is nothing to say about it" she looked up.

"Skipper, this isn't like you. Your principal calls me to tell me you verablly attacked one of your classmates, that you were suspended which means you lied more than once to me, what is this about?"

"That isn't the whole story" she said throug gritted teeth.

"What was that?"

"That's not what happened. She...the other girl attacked me first!"

"Is that a good enough reason to fireback?"

"It was" she said siriously "she had no right to say..."

"You'll apologize to her, the principal said you have until monday" she cut in.

"She is the one that should apologize!"

"What is that you two were arguing about?"

Skipper shut her jaw tight unable to answer "I can't...you wouldn't understand...you are Barbie"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Skipper flinched, she didn't meant it like that, but she couldn't talk to her sister about it, not like this "I won't apologize" she repeated "That is final"

"Well maybe you would like to reconcider as you stay in your room the weekend. No phone, no friends, no tv, or computer. You have until sunday's night to come up with a great apology to your classmate, and while you are it, come up with one for me as well"

"This is so unfair!" she shouted stumping her feet "Can't you just believe me when I say I stood up for myself and she is the one that was wrong, that I was just defending myself?!"

"Honestly Skipper, with this attitud of yours right now, I wouldn't buy it. If you defending yourself now resembles in any way to what you did at school, then you had it comming"

She looked at her in disbelief, she was hurt, but she knew she had hurt her sister as well, unintentionally of course, but nevertheless it was there.

"Now go to your room, you can only come out until the deadline is reached or you come to your senses again and fix this mess" she pointed at the door.

"Fine!" she replied fighting the tears as she rushed past Ken and her sisters to go upstairs and slam the door as hard as she could. After locking it, she threw herself in bed and cried herself to sleep.

Ken then walked over to Barbie "What happened? Is everythig alright?"

"I just had an argument with her" she was still a bit shaky and mad but more so concened, she had never needed to ground her sister, but right now she had no other way "Something is really bothering her, she wouldn't tell me what, though"

"Maybe she just needs space to cool down. You'll see, tomorrow morning it will be all over, you'll even laugh at this, your first sibling fight! And its probably over a boy or something"

"Yes, you are right, I shouldn't concern too much" she leaned into him before saying good bye for the night. After making sure the younger siblings weren't too scared about the fight, she walked over to her room. On her way was Skipper's door, she was tempted to open it and talk to her more calmly, but the wounds were too fresh, so she just put her ear next to it and heard her muffled sobs. She sighted walking away getting some much needed rest.

But the next morning was nothing as she predicted. Skipper didn't came out of her room, not to apologize and not at all. Barbie couldn't help but wonder if she was alright, or at least still on the house. She took a trey with food and knocked on her door leaving the tray on the floor.

"Breakfast" was the only thing she said before walking to the end of the hall, just looking back to make sure she opened the door, which she did, so she was indeed there. She felt bad, as if though she helth her a prisioner, but didn't did much about it, she wasn't ready to face her again, not until Skipper were ready to open up and say what she had been arguing about at school.

Barbie went back to her daily rutine as if nothing were wrong, but it was hard for them to pretend.

"Is...Skipper not joining us today?" asked Stacie after loosing the bet with Chelsea to see whom would bring the subject up

"I'm afraid it doesn't look like it" Barbie said cooly.

"Is she in trouble?" jumped in Chelsea

"Listen girls, this doesn't have to worry you, we just had a quarrel, is not big deal"

"It's just...weird" said Stacie "you've never yelled at her before"

"I never needed to" Barbie confesed "I feel aweful about it, but as her big sister I am in charge, and if something like this happens in school, I was at least hoping she would come directly to me to talk about it"

"If she had, you wouldn't have grounded her?" asked Chelsea

"Perhaps I would, since she got suspended, but at least I would be able to advocate on her behalf with the teachers, right now there is not much I can do"

"This stinks" mumbled Chelsea.

For the rest of the day, her door didn't opened but for the three meals. She didn't spoke a word or made a sound. Everything was so perfectly in silence thath it was odd. There wasn't even the sound of her phone while texting, or her music, or the keybord as she wrote another entry for her blog; nothing.

Finally sunday came, and with every passing hour, it made it worst and worst for all of them when the sun started to hide again. The deal was that once it was night again, they would talk about it once more. Now there were no more cards on the table. The time had come. After asking the younger girls to stay on their rooms while they talked at the living room, she walked to Skipper's room. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door just to find the figure of her sister hugging herslef, sitting over the bed watching thru the window. A pile of papers scrambled around her.

"It's time we talk again" said Barbie with confident voice, although she felt quite nervous.

Skipper nodded still without facing her.

"I'll see you downstair then" when she was about to leave, she saw a smashed portrait on the floor, from earlier in the week when Skipper had thrown the pillow, but what caught her attention was that her whole family was in that picture, and now it was completly shattered.

She left the door open going to the place first. After several minutes, Skipper followed. Again, her sight was fixed to the floor, but Barbie couldn't help but notice that her eyes had a shade of pink in them, she had been crying recently and quite a lot.

"Take a seat" asked Barbie doing so herslef. If she was a certified psicologist she better show it "Now that we are both calm and it's been a couple of days, do you have anything to say?"

Skipper looked her in the eye, her lips splited open, but nothing came out of them. She bit her lower lip and shook her head in shame.

Barbie sighted, she had been so close "Very well then, we shall discuss the matter" she folded her legs "Do you realize the seriousness of the issue? It's not like you to act this way"

"Don't-" cut in Skipper "Don't talk like that, it's...it's not you" she said resentfull

"How is this not me?"

"That's not your job, you shouldn't be scolding me, not you, not like this"

"Well as I see it, it is my job- I am your older sister, I have to take care of you and to answer for your actions. Which in this case have left me no choice but to ground you the way I did" Skipper looked away clenching her jaw "I want to help you, but I can't unless you tell me what's wrong"

"Part of what's wrong is the fact you don't even know!" she finally cried out.

"Well, how am I supposed to know if you won't talk to me?!"

"I know that you don't see it Barbie! It's just so...unfair. None of you seem to be broken about it, just me and that hurts!"

"Us? what are you talking about?"

"Think it for a second Barbie" she pleaded "what day is today?"she jumped out her seat motioning at the calendar helplessly broken/sad

"Sunday" Barbie answered doubtfully "of May" she stood up slowly

"The second sunday of May, Barbie" said Skipper quietly "You want to know why I got in trouble?" her eyes were streaming rivers "we were at literature class, making poems for Mother's Day. And when we were asked to read them out loud, a girl made fun of mine. She told the whole class that our parents had abandoned us, that we lived on our own, that no one cared about us! That we were unloved! How was I supposed to feel?! How was I supposed to react?!" she said between sobs "She had no right! You...you wouldn't undestand because you are Barbie, you are the oldest, you are fine without them, but today I didn't needed you, I needed our mom. You shouln't be the one doing this, you should just be my older sister, not my legal guardian! Seeing that nor Chelsea or Stacie missed her as much as I did made me feel..." she shrugged unable to say it, she felt weak enough already "I just wished she had come this year..." passed the heel of her hand to clear the tears "I am not going to apologize to her and you can't make me" she stood up to her sister who walked towards her. Skipper just embraced herself for whatever she might do, but she never expected what came next. Her sister arms were wrapped around her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Skipper" she said fighting the tears herself "You know their research means a lot to them, they didn't abandoned us, sis" caressed her hair "They love us so very much"

With this word Skipper broke down fully crying while hugging her sister tightly "I really miss them"

"It's okay Skipper, I miss them too" she cried alongside her sister as another motherless celebration passed by. Perhaps Skipper needed her mother that day, but Barbie needed someone to remind her how family felt and that once in a while, even the 'perfect' needed to show that they were, after all, humans.